A Feast for Crows

THE BOOK BEHIND THE FOURTH SEASON OF THE ACCLAIMED HBO SERIES GAME OF THRONES

Few books have captivated the imagination and won the devotion and praise of readers and critics everywhere as has George R. R. Martin's monumental epic cycle of high fantasy that began with A Game of Thrones . Now, in A Feast for Crows, Martin delivers the long-awaited fourth book of his landmark series, as a kingdom torn asunder finds itself at last on the brink of peace . . . only to be launched on an even more terrifying course of destruction.

A Feast for Crows

It seems too good to be true. After centuries of bitter strife and fatal treachery, the seven powers dividing the land have decimated one another into an uneasy truce. Or so it appears. . . . With the death of the monstrous King Joffrey, Cersei is ruling as regent in King's Landing. Robb Stark's demise has broken the back of the Northern rebels, and his siblings are scattered throughout the kingdom like seeds on barren soil. Few legitimate claims to the once desperately sought Iron Throne still exist--or they are held in hands too weak or too distant to wield them effectively. The war, which raged out of control for so long, has burned itself out.

But as in the aftermath of any climactic struggle, it is not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces--some familiar, others only just appearing--are seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges ahead.

It is a time when the wise and the ambitious, the deceitful and the strong will acquire the skills, the power, and the magic to survive the stark and terrible times that lie before them. It is a time for nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages to come together and stake their fortunes . . . and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests--but only a few are the survivors.

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As everyone else has said, you really should listen to the Roy Dotrice version. I listened to the first three books narrated by him and have not even yet gotten through that prologue with John Lee and I'm giving up. His reading style is unlistenable.

I was really pleased with the narration for the first three books by Roy Doltirce. Book four, however, is not consistent with the other three books. Many of the voices change, including Arya's, Sam's and Petyr's. Even the character's names are pronounced differently. I found this very distracting and it pulled me out of the story. To be fair Roy Doltrice was 88 for the recording of the fourth book and 11 years had past since he'd recorded the other three books. All in all, I still prefer Doltrice over Lee.

This was really hard to get into. Not only is it a different (inferior) narrator, but the story is not as enjoyable. Thank god it's short. Most of the main characters from the previous books are absent here and the new characters are boring throwaways. Honestly you could probly skip this book all together (I wish I had...)

Roy Doltrice has set the bar so high that the new reader stands no chance at all. Great series of books though. I'm going to trudge through this reading of it & celebrate when I get the fifth audiobook. Doltrice is the best.

The reader they used to replace Roy Dotrice in this book is almost unlistenably bad; he sounds the way people do when they pretend to be a bad actor, totally over-dramatizing every line. I have listened to all 3 of the previous audiobooks and loved them, but this one is impossible to pay attention to and not just totally zone out of.